Hello Song
by MorningOfGloria
Summary: Following her move to a new town after being held back and missing her high school graduation due to illness, Mercedes joins a group of teenagers who are a bit more focused on the arts than most. It isn't too long before the amateur photographer with a heart condition and the snarky novelist find themselves growing closer than most... Modern AU, Ingway/Mercedes
1. Finding the Club

**A/N** : Before we get started, I would like to say that this story is acting as a smaller side project to a larger, illustrated Odin Sphere fanfic that I will be posting to AO3. As such, it's more meant to be simplistic and sweet rather than large and epic. Ha, it's almost what you'd hope for when it comes to Ingway and Mercedes, right?

Okay, that's enough for now. I hope you enjoy this first chapter!

* * *

There was something awfully awkward about the whole situation. Or maybe Mercedes was just incredibly nervous.

The tips of her fingers gently pressed against the door of Room 218 and she began to push it slowly. She was a little worried that it had been left ajar because the teacher was out doing afterschool errands of some sort, but the rustling of papers told her that, yes, Mr. Krois was there. A slight wave of a relief came over her, but it was only slight and nothing more.

Really, why did her mother insist on asking this old man about some mysterious club that wasn't even affiliated with the school? If her "sources" from Parent's Night were correct, it probably didn't even exist.

With the door open wide enough, Mercedes quietly slipped inside. Almost immediately, she found herself close to sneezing and struggled to prevent herself from doing so. Was this a classroom or someone's personal study? Quickly, Mercedes noticed the papers sticking out of the filing cabinets, the crooked posters on the walls, and the old and worn carpet. Ugh, so Mr. Krois' students were _those_ kind of students.

"Oh, hello," a slightly feeble and withered voice piped up. "Don't mind the mess. My students do a better job of keeping the room clean than I do."

Supposed sarcasm aside, Mercedes turned her head to the bald, elderly man who sat at the desk in the back, which was the worst offender of this room in terms of clutter. The old man, presumably Mr. Krois, glanced up from his papers and tilted his head slightly while adjusting spectacles that were _far_ from modern. Mercedes shifted uncomfortably as he leaned forward and squinted at her, his mouth twisting slightly in a frown.

"I don't think I've seen you before, young lady," he said sitting back in his chair. Mercedes looked down, noticing for the first time that she was crinkling the fabric of her white trench coat jacket.

"I, um…" she looked back up and shook her head. "It's okay. I moved from another town over the summer. And, uh…" the other part was embarrassing. Mr. Krois, while seemingly curious, also appeared rather patient and waited for her to speak.

Mercedes' eyes squeezed shut. "I mean if I had been attending this school last year, I would have graduated with last year's class, so…um…"

Krois waved his hand. "I think I understand, Miss…?"

"Mercedes," Mercedes replied. "Mercedes Vaughan."

Krois chuckled as he marked down another grade on his papers. He seemed…nice. He was a lot nicer than Mercedes' gym teacher, Mr. Brigan, at any rate. He had completely ignored the notice from the Nurse's office and made her do the same number of laps as the other students anyway.

Her shoulders relaxed and she approached Krois' desk, albeit cautiously. Krois glanced up as she pulled a chair over from a desk and sat down in front of him.

"Well, Mercedes, I'm glad to meet you," he said. "How does it feel to be the oldest and newest in your class?"

"Awkward…" Mercedes' lip twitched. "And a bit lonely. That's why I came here."

There was a snort from Mr. Krois. "If you're looking for friends to hang out with, you came to the wrong person. I'm just a silly old teacher grading papers."

Mercedes shrunk back in her chair. This was already turning out to be a bad idea. "No, I don't mean… My mom said that…um…" She inhaled sharply. _Keep your composure Mercedes, keep it._ "According to my mom, you might know about a club that I could join. The so-called Creative Symphony?"

The mention of the club caused Krois to pause with his pen hovering over the paper. Mercedes' pulse was throbbing like a rabbit's now. Did she say something wrong? Maybe she was talking to the wrong person, or maybe…

"Mm, that group, ha ha…" Krois shook his head as he began to write again. "Two students from my homeroom and one of my history classes are a part of that club. They're twins, in fact…"

He put down his pen and laced his bony, withered fingers atop his desk, his eyes twinkling as he leaned upon his desk. "So, the Creative Symphony has caught your attention enough that you want to try joining it, eh?"

Her cheeks heated up in a bright red flush and Mercedes' lips curved in a moue. "My mom wants me to join it! You know…because a small, secretive club like that probably has members who like being close and I need new friends…"

"Don't you have old ones from your old town?" Krois asked.

Mercedes shoulders tensed again and she examined her hands resting on her lap. They were bone white from gripping her jacket so much. Tilting her head up, she caught Krois scratching at his beard.

"Well, it'll be up to them if they want you to join seeing as the club isn't affiliated with the school. They're more like one of those self-published bands if you get what I'm saying…" he grunted as leaned over in his chair and reached into his bag, retrieving a black cell phone. Mercedes mused that she hadn't seen a flip phone in ages as he popped it open and grumbled to himself. "Let me see, my daughter, my boss…ah! Ingway!"

He picked up his pen and wrote a set of numbers on a slip of paper before closing his phone and holding the paper to Mercedes. The girl hesitated for a moment, fingers twitching as she gingerly took the paper from him and looked at the phone number written on it.

"He would prefer it if you texted him," Krois leaned forward with his hand cupped near his mouth. "I dunno why, but it's the same with his sister, too."

Mercedes gulped.

* * *

 **Hello! My name is Mercedes and I'm interested in joining the Creative Symphony! Could you please please please send me a text back soon? I promise I don't bite!**

Did that sound too peppy and needy? Maybe it sounded too peppy and needy. But the last one sounded far too awkward to be sent, too. What kind of person was Ingway, anyway? Mr. Krois hadn't said anything about that.

Mercedes let out a heavy groan while bouncing slightly where she sat on her bed, the springs in the mattress creaking slightly. The alarm clock on her nightstand read 9:34 and if she didn't hurry, this guy would asleep before he had a chance to reply back. Well, _if_ he replied back. Maybe the club was exclusive to people with certain looks or who were in a certain clique…

Matthew the cat meowed loudly from his spot on top of her closed laptop. Mercedes gave him what her mother described as her "frog face."

"First off, get off my computer," she snapped. "Second of all, that's not very nice."

Matthew let out a yowl before settling his head back down. Mercedes placed her phone against the temple of her head and fell back against her stuffed toys. She glanced back at the draft text and sighed before deleting it. This was hopeless and dumb.

The door to her bedroom opened and head with a mop of spiky, bone white hair poked into the room. Mercedes bolted up at the sight of Oswald and quickly hid her phone in her pocket.

"I need a pencil," Oswald's voice was in monotone. "I forgot to buy another set while I was out today."

Mercedes gestured to her desk and Oswald walked over, taking a moment to politely toss Matthew off her desk. The cat meowed loudly in protest, with Oswald barely giving a passing glance as he plucked a pencil from the can on the desk. Mercedes wiggled until Oswald was at the door, where he paused and glanced up at the ceiling.

"…Eh, I'll introduce him on the weekend," he shrugged before leaving with Matthew trotting behind him. Once he was out, Mercedes heaved a sigh before letting her eyes travel to the cork board hanging on the wall behind her headboard.

Countless photographs were pinned to the board, ranging from birds and frogs to scenery of mountains, beaches, and meadows. What was missing from the board, however, were the pictures of the people she had taken. There were so many spots where photos used hang that were now empty. The one or two exceptions were photos of her mother and her cousin, Melvin.

Bitterly, Mercedes put a hand over her heart as a lump formed in her throat. "This is your entire fault," she said lying down and rolling over. "If you hadn't decided to act up, I wouldn't be in this mess."

Her eyes closed and she could just…remember hearing everyone in the park screaming as her head became light and she felt her chest tighten in pain before she passed out.

" _Cardiac arrhythmia_ ," the doctor had said in a matter-of-fact voice as her informed her of what happened. " _It's the collective name for various conditions where the heartbeat either beats too fast, too slow, or irregularly_."

"And everyone left after they realized I was different," her fingers curled into a fist. "Woe is me, Miss Arrhythmia girl."

Her mom had always told her that it was best to look forward and survey the path ahead, but it was hard when her condition was serious and her life expectancy was a little less than average because of it. And how was she supposed to move forward if there weren't people to lift her up if she stumbled? Or maybe she was too reliant.

The clock on the desk ticked towards 9:45. Mercedes thought a little more about this friendship dilemma. She didn't want to make friends because she was afraid that they would leave her…but she still wanted friends. She said it to Mr. Krois herself. It was awkward and lonely not having anyone to talk to.

 _Do you want friends? Or do you not want friends? Do you think it's worthwhile to worry about them leaving you now or later?_

She exhaled sharply before sitting up and taking her phone out again. Carefully, she typed out a message to Ingway, biting her lower lip as her message came to be.

 **Hello, my name is Mercedes Vaughan. I transferred to your school and will be graduating with this year's class because I was held back due to an illness. Is it possible that I can join the Creative Symphony? Thank you.**

Her thumb hovered over the send button for a moment before she pressed it.

10:00 came and went. Soon, it was 10:15. She really ought to go to bed now.

Just as Mercedes got up to get her pajamas on, her phone vibrated. The girl snagged her phone from her bed and found that her messages had one new notification. She clicked it open.

 **Oh, you're that new girl that some of the kids in my class were chatting about. The one who's older than the other students? I'm also graduating this year, so I** _ **suppose**_ **we're equals so long as you don't treat me like an idiotic child.**

 **Before I say yes to your request, I have a question. What do you do for a creative outlet? It could be music, dance, drawing, etc…**

Mercedes blinked slowly. A creative outlet…She typed and sent her reply as quickly as possible.

 **Does photography count?**

There was a two minute wait before she got a reply back.

 _ **Naturally.**_

 **Look, if you're really interested in joining us, all you have to do is meet us in Mr. Hindel's Book Emporium after school tomorrow and we'll go from there. Now, if you'll excuse me, some people** _ **hate**_ **to procrastinate when it comes to homework and I happen to be one of them. Good night.**

Mercedes' cheeks puffed out. What a rude meanie. At least he had given her a time of day.


	2. Welcome to the Creative Symphony

**A/N** : And now we're at Chapter 2! I'm really excited for this one, so let's get right to it!

* * *

She got a lot of nice comments about her outfit that day.

Mostly, the students and teachers would squeal at the soft tiers of her green skirt because it apparently made her look cuter than normal. Mercedes would force a smile in reply and simply say that she wanted to look special today.

One particularly obnoxious brunette who looked like the kind to cause trouble stared at her with a mischievous grin plastered on her face. "Is it because you're going on your first _date_ today?" She asked while hitting the pause button on her music.

That was enough to make Mercedes cringe and hurry away to her locker. The girl's laughter behind her sounded like a hyena.

She figured that it would be useless to mention the Creative Symphony whenever someone asked why she was dressed up. Again, the information that her mother had gotten at Parent's Night had been sketchy and it was by sheer _dumb luck_ that it turned out to be true. It was probably because it wasn't even considered an official organization by the school. Had Mercedes asked around, she probably would have been told that it was just a dumb rumor among students meant to entice them to join clubs.

And the more she thought about it, the more she became worried. What if it turned out she was joining a street gang? Maybe Ingway and the other members of the club were part of some conspiracy to bring down society. What if they had committed murder?

Stopping at her locker, the blonde with braids placed a hand over her beating chest and took a few deep breaths. She needed to stay calm for this. It was no use getting riled up and overexerting herself. The last thing she wanted to have today was palpitations.

Lunch went by and so did her next two classes. During the final class of the day, the clock seemed to tick on forever. It certainly didn't help that Mr. Belial's attempts at droll continued to fall flat and caused more groaning than amusement. Mercedes ended up resorting to scribbling in her notebook to keep herself entertained.

Following an explanation on the throat's role in the digestive system, the class sighed with relief when Mr. Belial glanced at the clock and told them that, with five minutes left in the day, they could take out their cell phones or music players. At first, Mercedes didn't bother with this. She instead put her books away and checked her physical appearance in her hand mirror.

She hadn't bothered with any makeup, but maybe she should have grabbed some of her mother's pink lipstick? At least the flower pins weren't crooked. The collar of her shirt, while a bit lower than what she was used to, was still enough to hide the scar on her chest from her surgery last year. Thank goodness for that.

She heard her phone vibrate and she quietly plucked it from the outside pocket of her tote bag. The message was from…Velvet? She could remember Krois having mentioned her name while they were talking, but all he had said was that she was Ingway's sister. Cautiously, she opened the message and read the text.

 **Hello, it's Velvet! I'm Ingway's twin sister and another Creative Symphony member. He gave me your number so that I could give you directions to Hindel's.**

 **It's really simple. Once you exit the school, take a right down Ella Street and into downtown Fordsmith. At first intersection, take the crosswalk to your left and continue down Horn Avenue. Hindel's is located between "Merlunch's Kitchen" and "Merine's Bakery and Sweets." Can't wait to meet you there!**

Mercedes breathed a sigh of relief, realizing she hadn't looked into directions to Hindel's before school today. She would have been wandering around town like an idiot all afternoon.

* * *

Today, the armchairs in the reading space felt rather uncomfortable for some reason.

Ingway caught Velvet looking at him with lips curved in a slight smile. Ingway replied with a frown before glancing back at his phone. His last text from Mercedes had been received exactly two minutes ago.

 **I'm at the crosswalk! I should be there in…I dunno. However long it takes to get there!**

Oh, how he had hoped after she first texted him last night that she wasn't the kind to use emoticons. Instead, he was greeted with a small smiley face at the end of that sentence, and had already been given the pleasure of one that indicated nervous sweating two texts earlier.

"She should really be texting you instead of me," Ingway's finger twirled around one of his honey golden locks, a physical characteristic shared with Velvet. "You are the _friendlier_ of us two."

Velvet turned a page over in the copy of _The Witch's Stone_ that she was reading. She was still smiling as she placed her cheek upon her knuckles. "She trusts you better than she does me. You're the only one that she's received multiple texts from."

Ingway rolled his eyes. "Yes, but she also knows that I'm a conceited asshole. And why would she trust me based on a few texts? She probably knows as much about me as much as she knows about politics."

"Just as you know almost nothing about her. I would dare call you a hypocrite considering that you're already characterizing her as an _idiot_ ," Velvet replied closing her book. Ingway wrinkled his nose, but before he could say anything, his phone vibrated in his hand.

 **I'm outside** , it said. Ingway's reply came quickly.

 **Then get** _ **inside**_ **.**

A moment later, the bell hanging above the door chimed softly and the shop was greeted by surprisingly _light_ footsteps. Ingway's gaze fell upon the front of the shop, watching as Mercedes made her first physical appearance.

She was…rather small. And it almost looked as though she had tried to make herself look like a flower of sorts, complete with a set of white blossom hairpins. It was a stark contrast to the dark violets, browns, and blues Ingway was used to wearing with an occasional splash of gold or white.

Crap, his mind had gone into a simplified tangent over details again.

It was Velvet who waved Mercedes over and the girl who Ingway would have mistaken for a first year hurried over to the reading area. Oh no, the tote bag was _designer_ , too. Ingway found himself sucking in his lips and briefly closing his eyes.

Opening his eyes, he found Mercedes leaning over just slightly as she played with the hem of her shirt. "You two are Velvet and Ingway?" She asked as her eyes darted from one to the other. Velvet's smile was gentle as she clasped her hands together.

"Of course! And you must be Mercedes! It's a wonder that I haven't been able to spot you around school if we're in the same year!"

Mercedes' cheeks flushed slightly. _Easily embarrassed type_ , Ingway mused as she replied meekly. "I've only got two mainstream classes right now. Most of the classes I'm in are ones to help me get accustomed to the school environment again."

"Your text to Ingway said you were held back from graduating with last year's class because of an illness…" Velvet said. When she saw the worried face Mercedes was making, she quickly put her hands up in defense. "But it's okay. We won't hold anything against you for it. Just let any one of the club's members know if you need something, all right?"

Mercedes' eyes widened slightly in surprise. "You say that like I'm already a member or something…"

"Well, you want to join us, don't you?" Velvet placed her book on the nearby table and stood up. "I see no point in denying your request. _Right_ , Ingway?" She looked over her shoulder at her brother.

"Maybe, as long as she doesn't cause _trouble_ ," he said getting up. "Otherwise, I'll have her head."

He heard Mercedes gulp and caught Velvet giving him a glare. He huffed loudly, but only continued with "I suppose we shouldn't dawdle any longer. We have to show her our little studio, now don't we?"

Velvet gave him a curt a nod before looking back at Mercedes with a smile. "So, why don't we move along? We have to walk a small ways to get there."

"O-okay," Mercedes tugged on the strap of her bag as Velvet walked towards the door and motioned for her to follow. When Mercedes looked at Ingway, he just shrugged before following Velvet out the door. Mercedes trotted quietly behind him.

The three of them walked together down the sidewalk with Velvet leading the way and Mercedes tailing behind. She kept glancing idly down at her shoes, a little nervous to speak to the young man walking with his hands resting behind his head.

"So, um…" Mercedes quickened her pace so that she was walking next to him. "How many people are there in the Creative Symphony?"

"Six," Ingway said. "Two of the others are students from our school."

"And the other two…?" Mercedes asked.

"Well, one of them is the older sister of one of our comrades and she's in college. The last one is her friend," Ingway looked up at the clear blue sky as they came to an intersection. "Speaking of relationships, those sisters are actually my half-siblings."

"Really?!" Mercedes gasped as the light turned green. Velvet glanced over her shoulder and giggled before looking ahead down the road.

"Same father," Ingway said gruffly. "The whole thing is complicated, though. You're better off not asking about it."

"I can live with that," Mercedes watched as Velvet took a right down a particularly worn-down street. This area of town looked…rather old. The more well-kept buildings still seemed to be at least three or four decades old and the street and sidewalk had plenty of cracks. Some even had grass and flowers growing between them. "Where is this…?"

"Ancient history," Ingway deadpanned. Velvet made a gesture with her hand as they each stepped over a rather large pothole in the ground.

"Fifty to sixty years ago, this place used to be a popular housing district in the town. Fast forward to now and, because of a failure in the economy, you'll mostly find friendly bohemians turning the buildings into their own little spaces."

"And our space happens to be the biggest," Ingway said as he and Velvet paused in front of an alleyway. Mercedes looked down it as her eyebrow rose a bit. It was a short one and it led to a small, grassy meadow with a forest in the background. Standing in the center of it was what looked to be an old warehouse of some sort.

Velvet and Ingway walked down the alley and into the meadow with confidence. Mercedes awkwardly stepped over cans and a puddle, a little concerned about accidentally getting dirt on her clothes. Her mother would have a fit if she ruined her outfit.

A great many daisies bloomed among the tall green grasses in the meadow. Mercedes put her hands on her chest as she approached the aged building. None of the windows featured glass, but some of them appeared to have colorful curtains hanging within. Velvet chuckled at they came to the metal door on the side.

"Would you believe that we have electricity in here?" She said opening it. "It took ages to set up, though!"

Mercedes was the first to enter the building and was met with a glorious sight.

The inside of the warehouse was as bright as the meadow outside. The walls and crates were decorated with fabric, lights, and framed illustrations. There were also tables and chairs all around and the space resembled more of a massive living room than the inside of an abandoned warehouse. There were even two desks with computers, an electric piano, and packages that contained things like clay and Papier-mâché.

Velvet turned to Mercedes beaming. "So, what do you think of our backyard set-up?"

Mercedes' red eyes were shining as a smile spread across her face. "I love it!"

Somehow, Ingway managed a smile and a snort.


End file.
